{"id":1134,"date":"2009-12-03T20:49:16","date_gmt":"2009-12-04T00:49:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/richard.rathe.org\/?p=1134"},"modified":"2009-12-11T05:59:18","modified_gmt":"2009-12-11T09:59:18","slug":"yucatan-trip-2009-chichen-itza-ruins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/2009\/yucatan-trip-2009-chichen-itza-ruins","title":{"rendered":"Yucatan Trip 2009 – Chichen Itza Ruins"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> Next on our tour was Chichen Itza<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, perhaps the most famous Mayan ruin of all. [photo gallery<\/strong><\/a>] Most of what we see today is a combination of Terminal Classic Maya<\/em><\/strong><\/a> and Post-Classic newcomers such as the Toltecs<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The site is dominated by the iconic <\/strong>El Castillo Pyramid<\/strong><\/a>, which was dedicated to the feathered serpent god Kukulkan<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. The restored stairway is flanked by gigantic stone serpents<\/a>. Additional buried sturctures<\/a> have recently been discovered at its base. The numerological and astronomical aspects of this temple are many, but my favorite is how a <\/em>sunlit snake appears every equinox<\/em><\/a>. If you clap your hands you will hear an eerie bird call<\/a> (which our guide claimed was a\u00a0Quetzal<\/em><\/strong><\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Temple of the Warriors<\/strong><\/a> is a fantastic edifice, with many carved columns<\/a>. Each carved side depicts a warrior in full regalia with a huge headdress<\/a> standing on a mystical serpent. Unfortunately I was limited to walking around it so I could not get close to the better parts. <frown> The temple is contiguous with a huge array of circular columns<\/a> that once supported a roof. One platform is ringed by carvings of eagles and jaguars<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Mirroring this theme across a broad grassy area in front of the Castillo is the small but elegant Platform of Eagles and Jaguars<\/strong><\/a>. It has well-preserved reliefs<\/a> and snakehead ornamentation<\/a> on all sides.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Behind the temple is a series of low platforms ending in the Tzompantli<\/em><\/strong><\/a> or Skull Rack<\/strong><\/a>. Apparently the skulls of captives and sacrificial victims were displayed here stacked on wooden stakes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Platform of Venus<\/strong> sported carvings of\u00a0men emerging from the mouths of a feathered serpent<\/a>. The friezes above each of these had whimsical images of tadpoles<\/a>. There were so many things to see in this area I lost track! Unfortunately it remained cloudy all morning so photography was difficult.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A wide raised road or Sacbe<\/em><\/strong><\/a> leads from this area 1000ft to the Sacred Cenote<\/strong><\/a>. The road passes through a perimeter wall<\/a> that once guarded the temple area. This area was lined with local vendors standing shoulder to shoulder in hopes of making a sale. There’s not much to see now, but in its day the Cenote was used to sacrifice to the rain god Chaac<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Grand Ball Court<\/strong><\/a> is truly enormous, and one wonders whether it was a ritual center rather than a venue for actual competition<\/em><\/a> (the rings are thirty feet high!). On the sidelines are carvings of the players<\/a>, one of which can be seen holding a knife and a severed head<\/a>! The small Temple of the Bearded Man<\/strong><\/a> is in the north end zone. The Upper Temple of the Jaguar<\/strong><\/a> overlooks the southern end.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I’ll conclude with a description of The Observatory<\/strong><\/a> and its companions. (It is also known as the Caracol or snail because of its spiral stairs.) This was a functioning astronomical observatory with small apertures aligned to the movements of the Sun, Moon and the planet Venus. (It was very frustrating not to have better access!) It sits on a platform with huge overhanging walls<\/a>. We also had a great view at night<\/a> from the hotel bar. (I’m not kidding!)<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Across a small lawn were two small Puuc style buildings with elaborate carvings. One known as The Church<\/strong><\/a> had a crown of masks. The other<\/a> had a seated figure<\/a> over the door. Beside them were the remains of a ritual bath with walk-in tub<\/a>!<\/p>\n

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Next on our tour was Chichen Itza, perhaps the most famous Mayan ruin of all. [photo gallery] Most of what we see today is a combination of Terminal Classic Maya and Post-Classic newcomers such as the Toltecs. The site is dominated by the iconic El Castillo Pyramid, which was dedicated to the feathered serpent god … Continue reading “Yucatan Trip 2009 – Chichen Itza Ruins”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,14,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-photography","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1134"}],"version-history":[{"count":41,"href":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1204,"href":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1134\/revisions\/1204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redmangrove.org\/rathe.org\/richard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}